MY KINGDOM FOR A REAL PERSON

In Shakespeare's Richard III, the King shouts "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse," after he was summarily unseated from his stead and left at a significant disadvantage in the heat of battle. This phrase in today's lingo tends to be used "tongue-in-cheek" when lamenting the need for something relatively inexpensive, but at the time is of tantamount importance and one would be willing to give away a kingdom for it.

I certainly felt that way today, as I called, or should I say I attempted to call, a 1-800 line for some customer service. I had tried the email route last week and heard nothing back, so I thought why not try to "real" person route. Alas, poor Yorrick, I was still stymied by the press 1 to go here, press 6 to go there, a few more numbers to press and then there was a click and the same menu came around. So I pressed zero and that voice, that always superior sounding voice, said she didn't understand that command. Arrrgghhhh! 

And don't get me started on the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems that many companies have put in place. I don't know what language the IVR is programmed for, but it definitely isn't English. I'm sure that you have found yourself yelling your command at this "virtual" person, who keeps on saying "Did you mean this?" NOOOOO! 

Just because certain things can be achieved with technology doesn't mean it should, and these lengthy menus, with multiple number press points, or the IVR which is anything but interactive, cannot replace a real live person.

Corporations now hide their "real-live" person phone numbers. It is almost like you need to know the secret handshake to get it. Why are corporations trying so desperately to distance themselves from their customers, and really, is the cost of a person at the end of the phone line worth the discord that is being sewn amongst the clientele?

Issues could be resolved quickly with the personal touch. Customer loyalty could be enhanced. People will refer others to those companies, where it seems they care. If I have paid for a product or service, I deserve to be able to easily (not 5 menus down) talk to customer care.

It was interesting that today I came across a website Gethuman.com, which enables finding a phone number to get a person. You  search by company name, and not only will you get the phone number, but it will also tell you the numbers to press, to quickly get to a "real" person, and other information. Wow, a new industry spawned by the fact that corporations aren't making it easy for clients to speak to them directly. That shows you how far corporations have sunk in the customer care realm.

I don't have a kingdom, but if I did, very often I would be paraphrasing Richard III --"A real person, a real person, my kingdom for a real person!"

BRAND AND CUSTOMER DELIGHT: A COMPANY THAT UNDERSTANDS

Those of you who follow this blog know that I have in the past ranted about poor customer service and how companies are just interested in getting your money and then basically you are on your own (Read It's not policy and other ways to ensure customer disservice and The Incredible Shrinking Customer Service). So it is only fair that when I encounter good customer service that I need to give it equal time.

Many companies don't understand that when their product fails, that the customer is not the one that needs to explain why the product isn't as good as it was purported to be. I have dealt with poor quality products over the years, and when requesting that a firm stands behind their product I am left to felt like I'm in an interrogation room, with a spotlight shining in my eyes, needing to justify that I didn't do something to make the product fail.

So was not the case with Ralph Lauren. I had bought some lovely Sateen, 500 thread count sheets some 6 months ago when I moved into my new place. I loved the feel of these sheets and at my age, I could wake up in the morning and I didn't have those deep grooves in my face that made me look like a wrinkle puppy for half the day. However, after six months there were these tears (that's "tair" not "teer") that appeared on the bottom sheet. Short of a tiger sneaking into my bed at night there was no real explanation for this except a quality glitch.

As it had been six months, I no longer had my receipt from the store I had bought it from, but none the less tried to determine if they would take it back, which understandably, but unfortunately they did not. I did however wonder what they thought I had been doing on these sheets to make them tear so!

So I emailed Ralph Lauren through their online store. I indicated that I hoped that they would forward my issue to whoever could help, as I was in Canada and had not bought this through their online presence. I explained in my email the issue, and that these sheets had gentle use, that is I sleep on my own, I did not have long toe nails, nor finger nails, no clawed animals were lurking to tear up the sheets when I wasn't looking and there were no monkeys jumping on the bed (you will only understand the reference to the latter if you have children and know the rhyme).

Within twenty-four hours I had an email response from Ralph Lauren, wherein they asked me for a little further information about the sheets ( I sent a picture of the tag). Another email came back within an hour, saying that this information would be forwarded to a product specialist for review. A further two days resulted in a product specialist getting back to me, saying that because I was in Canada, they were forwarding to a contact in Customer Relations and that he would get contact me, which he did within a day. A request for a photo of the sheet issue (he said usually they ask for the product back, but as I was in Canada that a picture would suffice). He forwarded the picture to his quality assurance group and within another day a resolution, as QA indicated it was a product integrity problem.

And the resolution way exceeded my expectations. I had spent $150 on these sheets, the dollar value which I had shared with Ralph Lauren. Not only are they refunding the $150, but an additional $30 is being added on to ensure that any bank or other charges are not at my expense.

Time from original email to resolution January 4th to January 10th. Along the way, each individual noted that Ralph Lauren stands behind their brand and that my satisfaction was their top concern. And they demonstrated this in spades.

The difference between Ralph Lauren and most other companies is that many say that they stand behind their product and that they focus on customer satisfaction, yet then  they  make you feel like a criminal when you complain. Ralph Lauren took full ownership of the issue and ensured customer delight!

Am I going to buy Ralph Lauren product again...you betcha! I already have new Ralph Lauren sheets adorning my bed. Because I don't need to worry if there is an issue with a product. 

So kudos to Ralph Lauren for understanding that brand is more than putting a logo on a product. It is ensuring that each and every customer is satisfied and thereby becomes a periphery sales person of that brand. You can be assured that I am one of those periphery sales people now!!

"IT'S NOT POLICY" AND OTHER WAYS TO ENSURE CUSTOMER DISSERVICE!

In the last couple of weeks I have been disappointed by the continued lack of understanding by companies that their "policies" are a disservice to their clients and I began to wonder "who's watching the shop?"

Usually I don't name names, but my recent "customer disservice" encounters beg for these businesses to be hauled out and publicly flogged for stupidity. Both are in highly competitive markets and if they don't change their approaches, then quite honestly, they will be added to the "good businesses, gone bad" death throe ballet.

First is a company called Dermaglow owned by VitalScience Corp. The company makes a brand of cosmetic products which I found to be quite good. After using a line of their anti-aging creams I did find my skin to be in better shape, and as such I made a subsequent purchase of the "Anti-Gravity Cream." Ok, I know it doesn't truly defy gravity (I do have a science degree after all), but it was as good, if not better, than other products I had used before. When I bought my second tube of the product (yes I need a lot of anti-gravity action these days) the packaging had changed and instead of a pump, it was a squeeze tube, with a little foil cover to keep the product in the tube. When I took this cover off, half of the cream started spewing out, reminiscent of any of several I Love Lucy episodes. So I sent an email through Dermaglow's web and waited a week but alas, no response. So I called the customer care line and spoke to a nice woman by name of Sarah, who said she would call me back, because she was not empowered to do anything and needed to check with the "lady" who is responsible -- not many, just one, which is also somewhat disconcerting.

Now this is where it gets interesting. Sarah called me back a couple of days later, quite excited in fact, that she has gotten a return authorization from this one "lady" and then the stupidity started. I was told that I would need to send this product (which costs in the realm of $60) back, AT MY COST, because they wanted to test the product and when they got it, they would send me a replacement.

When I pointed out that this would mean that I would pay over a 10% premium on the product -- because of course I wouldn't be able to send it just by regular mail, it would have to be traceable -- I was told that this was the Policy in how they deal with returns. I pointed out that I had gotten faulty product so why should I get penalized and pay extra for the "privilege?" of using their product. Sarah was nice, she said I made a lot of good points, but she was hampered because she was not empowered to do anything, it had to go back to this anonymous "lady" before anything could be resolved. I indicated that I wouldn't return the product on my dime and in the case of future purchases of their line...well I wouldn't make any. Sarah said she would get back to me, that was over a week ago. Ergo, why I am naming them -- stupidity should not go unpunished.

Which brings me to my second encounter. It was with Leon's furniture. I went in looking for some furniture and saw something that was on sale which I thought had potential. The salesperson suggested I put a $50 deposit on it, so that I wasn't at risk of it selling out -- a reasonable thought. So I plunked down via debit the $50 deposit. Once I got home I realized that the item would not match the decor, so the next day, I drove back to the store, to cancel the order and get my $50 back. Alas, once again, stupidity reigns supreme. You see if I had made the deposit on my credit card, they could have reversed the charge right there, but as it was via a debit card, they needed to send in the cancellation to head office, for them to authorize, print and then send me a cheque for that amount. Huh? I spent sometime chatting with the customer service folk at the counter and they said they had no way of returning the money any other way.

So not only have they annoyed a client (who will never darken their doorway again), but they are also incurring huge costs for this silly way of returning a deposit. (I would estimate that at minimum the cost for doing this to the company was in the realm of $150 - $200)

It makes you wonder, who in an organization is  considering what the client experience, particularly when there is a problem? I have always found it quite interesting watching any of the Undercover Boss episodes where the CEO says "gee I didn't know that." Well if you don't mr/ms. CEO then you haven't set up your organizational construct up correctly. The key premise for all companies should be if it doesn't add value to the customer experience and/or takes away from customer satisfaction then it should be revised or dropped.

That is if a company wishes to survive.